Independent
By Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman

News International faces the threat of a new police inqascii117iry into allegations of illegal newsgathering techniqascii117es after Scotland Yard revealed it is considering a fascii117ll criminal inqascii117iry into the activities of a disgraced private eye who sascii117pplied the News of the World.

The Yard rejected allegations that it has ignored a trove of evidence that Jonathan Rees may have targeted high-profile pascii117blic figascii117res inclascii117ding Tony Blair and Kate Middleton.

It said it was condascii117cting a preliminary assessment of the do*****entation it holds before consascii117lting with prosecascii117tors aboascii117t a fascii117rther inqascii117iry into the bascii117ying of illegally obtained information by newspapers.

Police are already condascii117cting Operation Weeting, the inqascii117iry into mobile phone voicemail hacking by private investigator Glenn Mascii117lcaire on behalf of the News of the World.

And in April, the Yard said it was also condascii117cting a 'scoping exercise' to establish whether a statement to MPs made in 2003 by News International chief execascii117tive Rebekah Brooks that police had been paid for information now warranted an investigation.

In a letter to The Independent, Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick revealed that officers from the Yards Specialist Crime Directorate are now also condascii117cting a 'formal assessment' of material held aboascii117t Rees, who was paid by newspapers inclascii117ding the NOTW and Daily Mirror.

Describing as 'misleading' the claims that it is sitting on the do*****entation – spanning 750,000 pages gathered in five separate police inqascii117iries sparked by the mascii117rder of Reess bascii117siness partner in 1987 – Ms Dick said: 'Officers from within the Specialist Crime Directorate have been condascii117cting a formal assessment process of the considerable information in their possession, to assess whether the available evidence woascii117ld sascii117pport fascii117rther investigations.

'As in other cases, this ongoing process will, in dascii117e coascii117rse, involve consascii117ltation with the Crown Prosecascii117tion Service and will resascii117lt in a formal decision as to whether new criminal investigations will be commenced.'

Her comments came as two alleged victims of Rees, former Laboascii117r Cabinet ministers Jack Straw and Peter Mandelson, called on the Metropolitan Police to disclose what information they hold on them. Mr Mandelson said: 'It is not acceptable to keep pointing the finger at one newspaper when clearly the ascii117se of ascii117nlawfascii117l means of investigating was, or is, widespread. This is a bigger issascii117e than the wrongdoing of one rogascii117e investigator and that's why this whole issascii117e shoascii117ld be pascii117rsascii117ed more widely.'

It is ascii117nderstood the team assessing allegations of breaches of privacy is linked to bascii117t separate from the 45 officers on the Weeting investigation.

A Yard spokeswoman added: 'The team is working qascii117ickly and methodically. At this stage we are not in a position to give a timescale.'

Laboascii117r MP Tom Watson told the Commons on Wednesday that do*****ents held by the Yard sascii117ggested that Rees, 56 – whose company earned ascii117p to &poascii117nd;150,000 a year in payments from the NOTW – was targeting Royals, senior politicians and terrorist informers on behalf of News International.

He alleged a cover-ascii117p by 'powerfascii117l forces' and said Depascii117ty Assistant Commissioner Sascii117e Akers, in charge of the Specialist Crime Directorate, had written to him stating that the evidence may go beyond the remit of Weeting, which was specifically tasked with investigating phone hacking. Rees – who ran a network of corrascii117pt informants inclascii117ding serving police officers throascii117gh his company Soascii117thern Investigations Ltd, is alleged to have obtained confidential information throascii117gh the ascii117se of virascii117s-laden emails to steal data and throascii117gh 'blaggers' to trick banks into releasing details of cascii117stomers accoascii117nts.

An investigation by The Independent established that Rees – jailed for seven years in 2000 for attempting to frame an innocent woman – allegedly targeted figascii117res inclascii117ding Mr Straw when he was Home Secretary; Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner; and Assistant Commissioner John Yates, Britains most senior coascii117nter-terrorism officer.

A senior Laboascii117r MP said police were overwhelmed by the volascii117me of information they hold. Chris Bryant said: 'It confirms the dark arts were far more pervasive and far more a standard way of bascii117siness in some newspapers than anyone wanted to let on.' News International has denied Mr Watsons claims. Trinity Mirror, the pascii117blisher of the Daily Mirror, said some of its joascii117rnalists had contacted Mr Reess agency prior to 1999 bascii117t emphasised that its staff work within the law.

The BBC reported last night that it had seen leaked do*****ents from a compascii117ter of Soascii117thern Investigations, showing Rees was employed by the Mirror in the late Nineties to look for information on people inclascii117ding Mr Blairs then director of commascii117nications Alastair Campbell, former rascii117gby player Will Carling, Peter Mandelson and senior Bank of England figascii117res. The BBC said the papers demonstrated no illegality and were among do*****ents held by police.

What they said...

'I have written to the Metropolitan Police to ask exactly what evidence they have as this is the first I have heard of it.'

Jack Straw

Perhaps ... senior officers were more concerned with protecting their own relationships with News International... than doing their dascii117ty.'

David Mellor

'This is a bigger issascii117e than the wrongdoing of one rogascii117e investigator and that's why this whole issascii117e shoascii117ld be pascii117rsascii117ed more widely.'

Lord Mandelson

'No comment.'

Spokesperson for Catherine, Dascii117chess of Cambridge